The Importance of Data Quality for Your Business

In business, the cost of quality data is one of those necessary expenditures. Through marketing, a business can tap into new markets, increase existing markets, and grow existing accounts.

It is important to spend marketing dollars carefully, though. If the data used for marketing is outdated or inaccurate, money spent on marketing could be going to waste with no return on investment whatsoever.

Every detail of business data must be accurate to ensure business success. Not only is accuracy important, knowing what to do with the data and how to sort it successfully is essential.

Something as small as one digit on a phone number in an advertising campaign can make the entire campaign fail. Everything must be carefully executed for a marketing endeavor to have a successful outcome.

Current Data
The time quality of data is almost as important as the details involved. A fantastic mailing list can be compiled to include names, addresses, average incomes, and property ownership information, but if this information is from an old census the chances of successfully marketing that database drop drastically.

Databases have to be current in order to be dependable.
Even data like target market profiles can change with time as one generation ages and another comes into adulthood, so while historical data is useful for projections, current data is essential.

Business Data Services
There are some companies available that provide accurate data. Online data collection, surveys, and email list compilations are very helpful for marketing.

It is often easier and cheaper in the long run to let a vendor who specializes in accurate data preparation help with collecting data. Making sure that the online opinions you gather are of top quality is very helpful in honing target markets and making profitable business decisions.

Value Versus Cost
Internal data collection and evaluation is essential for good business decisions. This type of data can include customer profiles as well as financial details.

It is essential for continued success to know who the ideal customers are so that these customers can be reached without spending extensive effort and expense on those who would likely not be interested.

External data could include databases of potential customers who fit into the targeted categories or new categories that have not previously been reached. Often there are various routes a business can take to collect data or access databases, and these various routes have very different costs associated with them.

The face value cost of a title company’s list of addresses may be substantially less than a list of addresses from a company that specializes in surveys and research to create specialized mailing lists for marketing purposes.

The real cost per new customer from the cheaper mailing list will end up being exponentially higher if the actual target market is not reached. Even worse, if the mailing list is collected from an inaccurate source and the mailers come back to the sender because of address inaccuracies, then all is lost.

It is essential to check data for accuracy at the onset and have systems in place to ensure data is updated during a marketing campaign. Complete data that includes clarifying items (such as complete addresses instead of simply a street name) is also something to take into account when assessing data.

Resources

• The Future is here and called Big Data